GAME NOTES: The Mid-American Conference Tournament gets underway with first- round action on Monday, including a clash between the fifth-seeded Bowling Green Falcons and the 12th-seeded Ball State Cardinals at the Stroh Center.

The winner of this game will move into Wednesday's second round against either Eastern Michigan or Miami-Ohio.

James Whitford's Cardinals enter the postseason with a tall task ahead of them. Ball State managed a conference-low seven wins and finished the conference slate in the West Division basement with an ugly 2-16 league mark. To make matters worse, BSU hasn't won a game since Jan. 10, closing out the year with 16 straight losses.

Ball State has a rich tradition in this event with a conference-best seven tournament titles. However, the Cardinals haven't won this tournament since 2000.

Chris Jans' first season with Bowling Green has been fairly successful. The Falcons finished the regular season with a 19-10 record, including a decent 11-7 in the MAC. The team limped into the postseason though, with two straight losses and four defeats in the last six games overall.

Bowling Green is one of two teams in the league that haven't won this tournament. The Falcons are 19-32 in this event all-time.

The Falcons swept a pair of regular-season meetings with the Cardinals and are looking to snap a streak of three straight first-round exits from the MAC Tournament.

With the conference's worst record, it is any wonder that Ball State has struggled this year at both ends of the floor. The team owns a -3.3 scoring margin, averaging 65.0 ppg on .421 shooting, while allowing foes to net 68.3 ppg on .457 efficiency. Freshman guard Jeremie Tyler is still the team-leader in scoring at 12.0 ppg. The problem is that Tyler was ruled academically ineligible after nine games and hasn't played since. That has left players like freshman forward Sean Sellers (11.9 ppg), sophomore forward Franko House (10.3 ppg) and junior forward Bo Calhoun (9.3 ppg) to shoulder more of the offensive burden.

The Falcons aren't exactly an offensive juggernaut, averaging modest 66.0 ppg on .428 shooting. Richaun Holmes, a 6-8 senior, leads the team and is one of the conference's top frontcourt performers, ranking 10th in the league in scoring (14.7 ppg) and fourth in rebounding (8.0 rpg). Guards Jehvon Clarke and Zack Denny are just under double digits with 9.9 and 9.1 ppg, respectively. More scoring depth comes from guard Anthony Henderson (8.5 ppg) and forward Spencer Parker (8.3 ppg).

Bowling Green's losing streak in this event should come to a close, as the Cardinals are coming in about as cold as a team can.